One side has not won it since 1981, the other came out of a 60 plus year slumber to pick pocket two in a row in 1996 and 1997 but have not been able to get back to the summit in the 12 years since, one of those facts will become history on Sunday. The meeting of St Gerald’s, Castleba,r and St Colman’s, Claremorris, in the Connacht Colleges A final in Flanagan Park this Sunday will pit the best two sides in Mayo in battle for the Aonghus Murphy Cup at 3pm, with Roscommon’s Declan Hunt taking care of duties in the middle of the field.
Most eyes on the day will be on the two captains, St Gerald’s Aidan O’Shea who started in last year’s run to the All Ireland minor final, but Colman’s won’t be without their own starman. Garrymore man Shane Nally was the captain of that minor side and his leadership qualities and drive will be propelling the south Mayo men on Sunday afternoon.
While Gerald’s have not won the final in 12 years, Colmans have lost four of the last eight finals, and the Claremorris men are a side who will have to be reckoned with according to St Gerald’s manager Joe McCabe. “Colman’s have had a great record and had an outstanding performance in the semi-final beating St Mary's, people might think that Mary’s weren't much good this year but they won the Connacht league last year in junior and had the basis of a good side coming through. All reports have been since Christmas Colman’s have been beating some of the top Leinster and Ulster teams in challenge games and we expect a very hard tough game.”
Improvement needed from Gerald’s
McCabe’s side’s semi-final win saw them hit 20 plus wides on the day and a major improvement is needed in front of the posts, and McCabe thinks there’s a lot more to come from his side. “We missed a lot and there is no guarantee we'll get them the next day either, but at least we are getting shots in. We didn't play well, it wasn't a good performance and we didn't beat the best ever Jarlath's team, and we struggled to beat them. We have a long way to go on the field and have to seriously up our performance the next day.” His side had a clean bill of health up to training during the week, where a couple of players picked up knocks, but McCabe is hopeful that everyone will pull through, and even if not is confident in his replacements. “We have picked up a couple of injuries in training and we have to assess them as the week goes on, but we'll give them time. But we have a large panel, everybody is waiting to come in, if one of the lads is unfortunate enough not to make it, it's the opportunity for one of the other lads to come in and take his chance.”
McCabe is looking to guide his side to his third Connacht Colleges’ title as a manager. He was manager of the side which won their first Aonghus Murphy cup in over half a century in 1996, seeing of St Patrick’s, Tuam, in the final, and repeated the trick in 1997 when they held off St Jarlath’s in Tuam Stadium to make it two in a row. That year his side made it all the way to the Hogan Cup final seeing off St Patrick’s, Navan, in the semi-final before losing out to St Patrick’s Dungannon in the final in Croke Park. “It's been part of my life in the school for the 20 years I've been here, there is enjoyment out of it, but at the end of the day it's about the lads and what they are trying to achieve as footballers, helping them to get the best performance out of themselves and going as far as they can. But then they move on and a new crowd come through. But it would be nice to have another victory to go with the other two.”
Both sides full of talented players
There will be a large array of talent on display on both sides, even excluding the captains. For St Gerald’s Aidan Walsh is another of last year’s Mayo minor class, and the Castlebar Mitchels’ man, along with Peter Dravins and Cillian O’Connor, will be the key forward for their side. At the back Mark Towey, Niall McCarney, and Niall McCormack will need to be on top form. For St Colman’s John Broderick another of last year’s minor side, with Richie Bell and Ger Cummins (if fit ), will be a part of an imposing back six. Darren Coen, Liam Kerans, and Ian Costello will all be part of and exciting attacking six.
No one knows what the future holds
While both sides have put in a huge amount of work into getting ready for the final, the future of schools’ sports is up in the air at the moment due to cutbacks in the educational funding, which is something that McCabe knows could have a knock on effect on competitions like this in the coming years. “Nobody knows what next year will bring, particularly with the situation in the education system at the moment. This has only survived on the grounds that we have done all the work outside the school time. That has been the way in the past here, that most of the work after Christmas has been done outside school hours, but pre Christmas it's the like of the Connacht league matches in autumn and the like, no one knows what's going to happen next year with it.”
